Maine

[buckabucka]

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[ducklucky]

We insulated our smaller coop as well, it's a lot cheaper than running heat lamps. Just used styrofoam and then put up cedar board over it. Works well, and also come December, we put old towels into most of the vents, leaving some open, and duct tape the window seams. Helps a lot. We only had to have the lamp on a few days last January. We do have a thermometer in there, and are only concerned when the temp runs into the teens and below for more than a couple of days, but the coop usually stays above freezing unless the wind is howling. And have the heater under the metal waterer. Have to get one of those control gadgets that run like $12 that will only let the warmer come on below 35. Our 10 girls are spoiled rotten, they will not leave the coop if there is a dusting of snow. Open the door for them, but they just sit there and look out. We will shovel a space for them, but they are still reluctant, which is fine, had to deal with frostbitten combs and wattles too many times in the past. They will be "cold stupid" sometimes, get out and go under the coop and just about freeze to death, just like a human would with exposure. They prefer to hunker down in their nesting boxes in nice fresh hay and sleep the winter away. For the first time last winter, even tho it was fairly mild, they stopped laying completely for about 4-6 weeks. We had fellow chickeners calling us for eggs as all of their hens stopped as well. Did anyone else experience that? It was a first for us, we always get at least a couple of eggs even in the heart of winter...

 

[ducklucky]

Certain of the sex of ours as well. The girls are so loud, and our poor lone drake just has the low and mournful qvack and has the curled tail. Sure they are just establishing their order as the drake seems to have picked a favorite "girlfriend" maybe they are jealous! They are so funny. Have a question for you, when you "did" your ducks (hate to use the other word) for eating, how difficult was it? We can't find anyone nearby who will do it for us unless they remove the skin, the best part!, say the pin feathers are too much work. Know there is a shop in Gardiner that does ducks twice a month, but it's way too far for us. Heard the regular Pekins were fairly easy as far as pin feathers. Did you do them yourselves?

 

[Mainechick168]

Hay im from west Gardiner i also insulated my coop

I'm right up the road from you ( Farmingdale) and I did NOT insulate mine....lets hope it's alright!

 

[blueseal]

pigeons forsale. a 1 year old trio. and another male and female with 2 babys. can bring to augusta swap 7-28-12. not sure what to ask for prices.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Have a question for you, when you "did" your ducks (hate to use the other word) for eating, how difficult was it? We can't find anyone nearby who will do it for us unless they remove the skin, the best part!, say the pin feathers are too much work. Know there is a shop in Gardiner that does ducks twice a month, but it's way too far for us. Heard the regular Pekins were fairly easy as far as pin feathers. Did you do them yourselves?

Yes, we've only done the one duck but we butcher all birds ourselves. The chickens take us about 30 minutes from start to finish, each. The plucking takes the longest time. Besides needing a way to kill them, you'll need some sharp knives and a large thing of water that's about 150ish degrees... we use a turkey fryer on a propane base. The duck... it took me over an hour to pluck. It was about 6 months old. We kept dunking and plucking, dunking and plucking. I was ready to cry. There weren't a lot of pin feathers, but the oil from the duck made the water not penetrate the down so they didn't pluck out easily even with multiple dunks and a lot of soap in the water.

The actual butchering was much like a chicken. The duck got rigor really quickly, or it seemed anyway, compared to a chicken but because the cavity was much larger it didn't really make a big difference. Maybe it was so rigored because it took forever to pluck.

We built a home made plucker out of some PVC, a drill and some rubber strapping. It didn't help much with the duck due to the hot water not penetrating the down well. Works pretty good on chickens though, would work better if I wasn't afraid of losing a finger to it. Plucking by hand isn't bad at all for chickens, but BF really wanted to build a plucker, so I use it! I have a video on youtube of it in "action" but I can't figure out how to link it here...

The duck was so worth it. The skin was the best part.

 

[kristen2678]

We have a few drakes looking for new homes. One Mallard drake showed up here a few weeks ago. He is clearly domesticated but can fly a little. Maybe his wing has been clipped? Anywho, someone must have dumped him here noticing our pond and other ducks. He is a very friendly nice boy, just too "frisky" for our girls. Newman will be free to a good home.

I'm considering moving a few Penciled Runner drakes as well. These guys are 10 weeks old from Holderreads SQ lines. They are tall and straight. Healthy good looking ducks. Drakes will go in pairs unless you have other ducks. Good homes a must for these. Price can be discussed.

pm with questions.

Thanks.

 

[ashandvine]

I know chickens and farms can be messy. I know we don't all have money. I know I am guilty as anyone of being a person who cares about animals but isn't always on her game... still. The way some people keep animals surprises me in bad ways.

On a different note: I saw my first Spangled Hamburgs in real life yesterday. Small but pretty.

 

[ducklucky]

You'll be fine if we have another winter like last year, but of course we can't count on that. You can always use square bales of hay or straw to either go around the base or put some inside if there is room. Can also seal up big cracks with duct tape or something else they won't pick on. Don't need to insulate, it's just a safety thing for us as we are on a hill and the wind howls through here out of the north in winter.

 

[GoodwinMaine]

I know chickens and farms can be messy. I know we don't all have money. I know I am guilty as anyone of being a person who cares about animals but isn't always on her game... still. The way some people keep animals surprises me in bad ways.

On a different note: I saw my first Spangled Hamburgs in real life yesterday. Small but pretty.

I hear you on the way people keep their animals! Terrible sometimes, but what can you do?

We have a Spangled Hamburg rooster, just growing his tail feathers back. I'd never seen one till we saw an ad for a few roo at a home with too many others. He is BEAUTIFUL. Getting more so every day. Chickens and all the breeds/mixes are so much cooler than I ever would have imagined... before